Pennsylvania Fish and Boat Commission officials say they’ve begun stocking hundreds of lakes and streams ahead of the 2019 fishing season. In all, more than three-point-two million trout will be placed in more than 700 streams and 127 lakes this season. Fishing season begins in the southeastern counties on March 30th, then statewide April 13th.
A boy is recovering from burns he sustained after his pants caught fire while standing next to a space heater. The ten-year-old suffered third-degree burns from the incident last Sunday at his family’s home in Uniontown. Doctors at UPMC say they treat about a dozen space heater burns annually, with most of the injured being kids, according to WPXI-TV.
The state is reporting that another eleven people have died in Pennsylvania due to flu-related complications. According to data released yesterday, the confirmed fatality count in Pennsylvania due to the flu this season has risen from 57 to 68, with 40 victims being ages 65 and older. Another painful statistic is that the total cases reported state-wide has increased by around eight-thousand people since last week.
Pennsylvania is joining 19 other states in a lawsuit challenging the Trump administration’s move to restrict taxpayer-funded family planning clinics from referring women for abortions. Attorney General Josh Shapiro joined the lawsuit filed Tuesday in an Oregon federal court challenging what critics call the “gag rule.” Shapiro says it imposes unlawful and unethical restrictions on health care professionals.
Financial troubles are looming over the Pennsylvania Turnpike. State officials say the turnpike commission is eleven-billion-dollars in debt and behind on payments for transit projects. At issue is a lawsuit filed by motorists’ groups claiming toll dollars should not be used for non-turnpike projects. The turnpike commission can’t make its obligations to the state while the lawsuit is pending.
Should Daylight Savings Time be a thing of the past? A state lawmaker from Lebanon County is looking for cosponsors on a bill that would eliminate daylight saving time in Pennsylvania. Russ Diamond says right now he has six supporters for his measure and they come from both sides of the aisle. Diamond argues springing forward and falling back are outdated practices that not only reduce employee productivity but also negatively affect a person’s health.
WEATHER FORECAST FOR WEDNESDAY, MARCH 6TH, 2019
TODAY – CLOUDY. A FEW FLURRIES ARE POSSIBLE.
HIGH – 22.
TONIGHT – CLOUDY. LOW – 18.
THURSDAY – MOSTLY CLOUDY. NOT AS COLD. HIGH – 31.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jake Guentzel scored on a breakaway 2:44 into overtime to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins past the Florida Panthers 3-2 on Tuesday night.
Guentzel took a lead pass from Sidney Crosby and slipped a backhand by Roberto Luongo for his second goal of the night and 33rd this season. Pittsburgh picked up two vital points as it tries to create some breathing room in its pursuit of a playoff berth.
Crosby finished with a goal and two assists on the night he became the 48th player in NHL history to reach 1,200 points. Matt Murray had 32 saves for the Penguins. Matt Cullen played 12:36 in his 1,500th career game.
Henrik Borgstrom and Vincent Trocheck scored for the Panthers but Florida dropped its fifth straight — four of them in overtime — when Guentzel found his way behind the defense and came in all alone on Luongo, who made 34 stops but couldn’t reach out and get his glove on Guentzel’s winner.
The 42-year-old Cullen — affectionately known as “Dad” on the club he helped win consecutive Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017 — joined some elite company more than a full generation after his NHL debut, becoming the second American-born player and 20th overall to reach the 1,500-game plateau. His teammates honored him by wearing black jerseys with his familiar No. 7 in warmups, and Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel all helped present Cullen with a handful of gifts, including a silver stick and a Penguins-themed ATV.
A short video tribute ended by thanking Cullen for the memories while urging him to help create more. Fitting. The Penguins are in need of a memorable stretch to assure themselves a 13th straight postseason berth. Hardly a given for a talented if erratic club that’s spent the last five months mixing bursts of vintage play with lengthy stretches of mediocrity.
Facing a team whose playoff prospects are eroding by the day, it was more of the same.
Florida needed just 1:45 to take the lead when Borgstrom’s shot from the left circle was redirected into the net by Pittsburgh defenseman Erik Gudbranson. The Penguins pressed to tie it thanks in part to some spirited play by Kessel, who is riding a goalless streak that dates back to Jan. 30. Luongo fended off two quality chances from Kessel in the first period but Pittsburgh pulled even 16 seconds into the second when Mike Matheson’s turnover ended up on Crosby’s stick in the Florida zone.
Crosby tried to slip the puck to Jared McCann but it was poke-checked away. No matter. Guentzel jumped on the loose puck and beat Luongo from the slot. Crosby’s 55th assist of the season also made him the 48th NHL player to reach 1,200 points.
Crosby needed less than 10 minutes to pick up career point No. 1,201. With the Penguins on the power play, he threaded a pass to Kessel. Luongo made the stop but the rebound went right to Crosby, who pounded it home at 10:01 of the second period to reach 30 goals for the ninth time in his career.
Trocheck, a Pittsburgh native, evened it at 2 when his one-timer from the bottom of the left circle zipped past Murray with 2:29 to go in the second.
NOTES: Pittsburgh D Kris Letang skated in the morning but continues to wear a red “no contact” jersey while recovering from an upper-body injury that has sidelined him for the last four games. … The Penguins are the fourth NHL team to have two players reach 1,200 points with one franchise, joining Boston, Montreal and Detroit. … The Panthers went 1 for 3 on the power play. The Penguins were 1 for 2.
UP NEXT
Panthers: Play at Boston on Thursday.
Penguins: Host the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday. The Penguins have won each of the first two meetings between the Metropolitan Division rivals.
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$6.3M raised for synagogue massacre families, survivors
By MICHAEL RUBINKAM Associated Press
A $6.3 million fund established after the Pittsburgh synagogue massacre will primarily be split among the families of the dead and survivors of the worst attack on Jews in U.S. history, organizers announced Tuesday.
The Jewish Federation of Greater Pittsburgh set up the Victims of Terror Fund after the Oct. 27 attack at Tree of Life synagogue that killed 11 and wounded seven. The fund took in more than 8,500 donations from 48 states and at least eight countries.
The donations are “expressions of love, generosity, compassion and a desire to help in the healing process,” the independent committee overseeing the fund wrote in its report Tuesday. The committee acknowledged that “no amount of money can compensate for the loss of a loved one’s life” or “completely heal our hearts or our communities.”
Most of the money, about $4.4 million, will be given to those most directly affected by the attack, including victims’ families and two seriously injured congregants. The committee awarded about $437,000 to nine congregants who were trapped inside Tree of Life, “fearing for their own lives and, in some cases, watching relatives and friends being murdered,” the report said. Police officers who were shot and wounded while responding will split $500,000.
The committee also set aside $650,000 for the three congregations that share space at Tree of Life and were gathered for Sabbath services when the gunman walked in and opened fire. Some of that money will pay for repairs to the heavily damaged synagogue, which the committee noted will be “a costly, complicated and extended process.” The balance of the fund, $300,000, will be given to a future memorial, as well as an education initiative.
The fund stopped accepting donations Feb. 27.
“The outpouring of support from around the world has been tremendous,” Meryl Ainsman, chair of the Jewish Federation’s board of directors, said in a statement.
An anti-Semitic truck driver named Robert Bowers has been charged in the attack. Authorities have said Bowers expressed hatred of Jews as he opened fire with an AR-15 rifle and other weapons. Bowers pleaded not guilty to federal hate crimes and dozens of other counts, but his lawyer has signaled he might be open to a plea deal.
Federal prosecutors in Pittsburgh have previously indicated their intention to seek the death penalty.
